Darrys Aylward was born in Kent, in the days when his hometown was a small market town. The vast metropolis which now stands in its place is nothing like the place he remembers.
Born and raised in a pious household, Darrys spent his formative years from eight to seventeen heavily involved with the rest of his family, in the Pentecostal Church movement. This has proven to be a double-edged sword. On one hand, Darrys considers the education he received in the church was priceless, but on the other hand, this has left him with a somewhat negative view of the church in general. Darrys now considers himself to be non-committal.
At seventeen, Darrys left home a week after leaving school and side-stepped unwittingly into the catering profession where he remained for the bulk of his career, eventually becoming Master Patissier.
His experience in the catering industry has also shaped him to a wider degree due to the many characters and oddballs he worked with, or more poignantly, worked for. Personalities from the church and people from his working life feature prominently in his soliloquies. He just hopes nobody recognises themselves!
Darrys’s fondness for soliloquy is attributed to Joyce Grenfell, who Darrys admires for her ingenuity and perfect delivery.
At fourteen, Darrys found his love of language to be almost overpowering and claims the best present he ever received was a Teach Yourself Chinese book. He didn’t do well, but at fifteen he changed his attention to the Thai language. He was largely self-taught, but by eighteen he was getting tutorage at the School of Oriental & African Studies in London one day a week.
His father was a stickler for correct English and his passion was the English Language, and the Church, of course. This had a profound influence on Darrys throughout his life.
Darrys has changed jobs and living places so much that good friends and family complain that their address books are just full of entries under him. But Darrys is now settled in the northern town of Stockton-on-Tees on Teesside.
